


Masquerade

by Ms_Starlight



Category: Final Fantasy VIII
Genre: F/M, Smutty, pre-game
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-09-18
Updated: 2019-09-18
Packaged: 2020-10-21 00:20:06
Rating: Mature
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 7,686
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/20684363
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Ms_Starlight/pseuds/Ms_Starlight
Summary: Quistis decides to celebrate her first semester as an instructor by letting loose at the autumn SeeD ball, a masquerade. Seifer sees the masque as an opportunity to sneak in and get drunk on Garden’s dime. When the two meet, not knowing who the other is, sparks fly.





	Masquerade

**Author's Note:**

> I wrote this a while ago but it has only existed on Live Journal up until now. Did some minor revising and polishing for posting it here. I've vague plans to continue it at some point.

Quistis smiled as she passed by the huge, sparkling display near the Garden entrance. The holidays were approaching and that meant a break from the constant stress of scoring exams and troubleshooting for students who had spent the better part of her class asleep. The glittery lights hanging from the ceiling were a welcoming beacon that drew her near and the fragrant scent of pumpkin laced with a hint of cinnamon filled the air. She inhaled, clutching her papers to her chest.

She loved this time of year.

Her boot heels clicked against the floor as she reluctantly parted ways with the flickering display and brightly painted banners. The holiday break was still several days away and she still had things to get done. Students were waiting, her class was due to start in fifteen minutes, and she was already running a little behind.

Reaching into her pocket, she fished out her key and paused at the instructor’s mailboxes to gather her mounting pile of mail. Old papers covering the whole spectrum of the rainbow were crammed inside. Several memos were already outdated. She slipped those to the bottom of the pile without reading over them.

“Hey! Quistis!”

“Morning, Xu.” She smiled as the other woman stopped beside her.

“How are exams going?” Xu asked.

“Oh…they’re going,” Qustis replied with a shrug. She had only recently been promoted to a full time instructor position and this was her first stretch of giving exams. She hadn’t realized how much of a drain on her time they would be. Everyone seemed to need her for something.

“Are you going to the autumn ball this year?” Xu asked. “SeeD only, you know.”

“I don’t know. When is it?” Aside from the SeeD Commencement ball, she avoided Garden’s large social functions. They always made her feel terribly young and out of place.

“It’s this Friday night,” Xu replied. “I organized it this year, so it’s going to be a blast.”

“Yeah? What do you have planned?”

Xu grinned. “A masque. I figure if everyone’s in costume, maybe people will relax a little. Garden parties are always so stiff and uptight. Speaking of…” Xu crossed her arms and eyed her friend. “You could stand to let loose a bit yourself. It’s right after exams. Andsince it’s a masque, so no one even has to know you went. You deserve a night of drinks and dancing to celebrate getting through your first semester.”

Quistis hadn’t gone out and partied in her whole life. Her world was all about work, getting things done, and being responsible. That was how she had managed to get so far so fast. But right now all she really wanted was a break. Maybe this party was just what she needed. With a mask on, she wouldn’t have to live up to the myth of Quistis Trepe. She could embrace the eighteen year old lurking underneath the adult facade and no one would know or hold it against her in the morning.

“Yeah. Okay. I’ll be there,” she said.

Xu pumped a fist in the air as they walked together toward the elevator. “Awesome! You’ll have a great time! You’ll see.”

* * *

Seifer Almasy stared up at the banner hanging on the wall. The paint was still fresh, words slathered in blue acrylic on a large scrap of yellow butcher paper. Thick strips of tape attached it to the wall, one of them curled up halfway upon itself. It took him a moment to process the implications of what he was seeing.

The autumn SeeD ball was going to be a masquerade.

_A masquerade._

Garden’s holiday parties were exclusively for SeeDs and faculty. There was a separate, tamer one involving cake and punch for underclassmen and cadets. As far as Seifer knew — and he knew a lot about this sort of thing — no one had ever managed to sneak into the SeeD ball. The school was just too small. All the instructors were there, and they knew who wasn’t allowed.

But this year, that record was going to change.

Seifer’d had his fill of sipping juice with ten year olds.

He pushed back his trench coat and shoved his hands into his pants pockets, grinning to himself. A plan began to form in his head.

“Seifer?” Raijin came up behind him. “Been looking for ya, ya know?”

Fujin was with him, her silver hair nearly iridescent under the fluorescent lighting. She pointed over Seifer’s shoulder, her visible eye narrowing to a hostile slit, and shouted, “VIOLATION!”

Seifer spun around to see who she was pointing at and spotted a small, blond cadet running toward the cafeteria — a clear infraction of Garden rules which prohibited running in the hallways. This day was getting better and better. They could go harass the chocobo look-alike (one of his all-time favorite activities) and then he’d skip Trepe’s class to head to Balamb and set his plan into motion.

Beautiful. Just plain beautiful.

He waved his posse to follow him and with a big grin yelled, “Stop! Disciplinary committee!”

* * *

The costume shop in Balamb was deserted except for Quistis, Xu, and the shopkeeper. Quistis looked over the shelves at the odd colored wigs and fake teeth, then stopped to examine a Shiva costume that looked like nothing more than a blue and yellow sheet and a poorly painted mask with creepy, vacant eye holes. Xu was in the fitting room trying on a dress she’d found while Quistis continued to search for anything that roused her interest.

She paused to look more closely at the wigs.

As far as preserving her anonymity went, a wig wasn’t a bad idea.

Curiously, she reached out for a bright pink one and pulled it on. Her own hair peeked out under the front, but overall it didn’t look half bad. She selected another one, this one a long, loosely curled mane of dark hair. The contrast between her pale skin and the wig made her her eyes look more brightly blue, and the wig’s volume made her feel delicate and feminine — less like the hardened SeeD she was and more like the young woman she wanted to be for this one night.

Keeping the wig on for the moment, she wandered over to the masks. The store had a turnable rack of masquerade masks, all equipped with long ribbons to tie them in place. Most were simple solid colors, unadorned, and a few others were gaudy monstrosities topped with huge plumes of colored feathers. One at the bottom of the case caught her eye. It was dark blue, the edges embroidered with thick, silver thread, and a small burst of white feathers fanned out from a delicate silver ornament at the top. A little flutter rose up in her stomach as she pulled it on. It fit perfectly and filled her with a heady rush of liberation.

Not wanting Xu to see what she’d picked out, Quistis quickly took the wig and the mask up to the register. Once she got paid, she would come back into town to shop for a dress.

“Would you like a box for this?” the clerk asked as she rang up the mask.

“Yes, please.”

The woman was slipping the lid over a nest of tissue paper when Xu materialized next to Quistis at the counter.

“Hey!” She nudged her friend. “What did you buy? Can I see it?”

“No way!” Quistis grabbed the box and held it tight.

“Jeeze.” Xu laughed. “What are you planning on doing at this party if even _I_ can’t know who you are?”

“Nothing,” Quistis insisted.

Chances were she’d go and do what she did at every other SeeD ball she’d attended: stand around by the refreshments wondering why no one approached her, all the while looking as formidable as a t-rexaur as she stood with her arms crossed over her chest, her expression irritated. Everyone would probably know just from her stance that the woman in blue was her. But she didn’t want to let go of the possibility that all of that could change if, just this once, she didn’t have to be saddled with what everyone else’s expectations.

With a smile, Xu let the issue drop and bought the red and black dress she’d been trying on, then they left together to have dinner on the pier. By the time Quistis arrived back at Garden, she was full with pasta, fresh bread, expensive wine, and thoughts of a relaxing evening along the water with a good friend. It was a rare sort of day, and she’d shirked some of her duties to indulge. Back in her dorm room, she sat down at her desk and pulled out a stack of semester-end evaluations that needed her attention. All the while, the mask she’d bought sat on her bed looking back at her, filled with possibilities.

* * *

“What do you think?” Seifer asked and turned around once for his friends.

“HANDSOME!”

“Yeah,” Raijin agreed. “You look totally different, ya know?”

“You saying that I’m ugly most of the time?” Seifer asked and put on a hard expression just to screw with him.

“Uh…what? No! It’s just a different sort of…what did you say, Fu? Handsome! This is just _way_ more put together than you are most of the time, ya know?” Raijin stammered until Fujin kicked him in the back of the leg, setting him to howling.

Seifer shook his head, wondering why he even bothered to ask their opinion. Neither one had ever had an original thought before. Most of the time, he preferred them that way, knowing that they would never try to undermine his authority. But occasionally a moment arose where he needed a real opinion, and in these moments he resented the way they groveled at his feet. Turning his back on them, he looked into the full length mirror hanging on the back of his bedroom door. The man looking back was still, from Seifer’s perspective, obviously him. But the details were different.

He wore an expensive black tuxedo he’d rented in Balamb for the night. It fit like a glove. Underneath he wore a crisp, flawlessly white shirt that he’d buttoned not quite to the top. And his shoes were the same glossy black of volcanic glass. The mask he’d picked out more closely fitted his personality than the pressed pants and sleek coat. It was fashioned like the front of an ancient battle helm. The design arched around the eyes, giving the mask a fierce, animalistic expression. He liked it. Combined with the utterly civilized attitude of the tux, he had the appearance of something waiting to be unleashed.

The SeeD ball wouldn’t know what hit it.

Reaching up, he tousled his blond hair a bit and, satisfied, turned back to his posse.

“Did you get what I asked for?” he asked.

“AFFIRMATIVE!” Fujin pulled a brand new, laminated SeeD badge out of her jacket pocket and handed it to him. He looked over it for a moment before rolling his eyes.

“Sid Zombie?” He was never going to get in with a name like that. “You couldn’t choose something a little more inconspicuous?”

Both of them looked back at him blankly.

He sighed and slipped the badge into his pocket. He could still make this work.

Rummaging through his desk drawer, he found a small bottle. With a glance over his shoulder that clearly said nothing should ever be uttered under pain of death of what was about to happen, he spritzed a small amount of cologne across the open collar of his shirt.

“Okay. I’m off. Don’t wait up.” He waited for their salutes before striding purposefully out into the hallway and toward the elevator. This was the first test. If he could get to the elevator without anyone recognizing him, he’d have cleared the first hurdle. A few other people were hurrying through Garden in their own costumes, all of the girls giggling and fluttering with excitement in the spicy, holiday air.

He managed to slip into the elevator with two women dressed in long dresses and elaborate masks. One of them slipped her ID into the elevator control panel and pushed the button for the third floor, restricted to everyone but SeeD. Under his mask, Seifer allowed himself to breathe a sigh of relief. He could fake a SeeD ID but not the code programmed into the magnetic strip that gave them access to restricted areas. Luckily, the two women assumed he was exactly where he was supposed to be and didn’t ask his name. After all, not knowing was half the fun of a masque.

His luck continued and he got into the ball without even the slightest hitch. Even he was surprised when the two guards at the door merely glanced at his ID from a distance and then waved him through.

As he walked in, the sheer sense of triumph hit him. The ball room was decorated with heavy velvet and twinkling lights. Live music was playing. Everyone was walking around in their costumes and masks, trying to guess who everyone else was. A few people peeked out from underneath theirs to their neighbor’s delight.

And then, Seifer spotted the SeeD ball holy land: the open bar.

Smoothly, he sauntered over and picked up a glass of spiked mulled cider. It sent heat all the way to his toes as he drank.

This was the best prank ever pulled in Garden history. He was sure of it. He found a place along the wall and leaned back against it so they he could survey the crowd and determine what his next move should be. The goal had been just to get in. Now he wasn’t sure if he should continue to sit and drink or stir up a little more trouble.

He took another sip of cider and watched as one woman stepped out of the crowd, catching his eye. She was wearing a dark blue and silver dress that hugged her ample curves and a beautiful, delicate mask over her dark hair which fell in voluminous curls down to her waist. He’d certainly never seen _her_ around Garden before. Straightening his tux, he put on his best charming smile and started in her direction.

* * *

Quistis had purposefully arrived late to the party. Though late to her apparently translated as right on time to everyone else, so she found herself walking into the ballroom among a crowd of people that jostled her every which way in their excitement. Straightening her mask and hoping her wig hadn’t slipped, she pushed her way through them and into the open where she took a deep breath.

Not sure where to begin, she picked up a small flute of champagne and looked out over the dance floor. Consciously, she fought the urge to cross her arms.

_Look welcoming, Quistis_, she reminded herself. _Look mysterious._

She was about to walk around and see if she could find Xu when someone came up beside her and touched her elbow, nearly making her drop her glass in surprise.

“Sorry. Didn’t mean to startle you.”

She was amazed to turn and see a tall blond, his green eyes looking down at her from behind a thick mask that revealed only a pouty mouth and a gently curved chin. He must be a brand new SeeD, she decided. He seemed vaguely familiar, but she couldn’t quite place him.

“That’s okay,” she said and smiled. “Can I help you?”

She cringed when she heard herself. That had sounded way too much like an instructor speaking.

“Would you like to dance?” he asked.

“I’d love to.” She tried to make her reply sound husky and sexy, but it came out more breathy than anything. She still wasn’t very good at playing this alter ego, but he didn’t seem to notice.

Without preamble, he took her glass out of her hand and finished the last of her champagne in a single, protracted gulp. Quistis watched with rapt attention as the drink slid down his throat and out of sight, his lips touching where hers had just been. He set down the empty glass on the table behind him, then reached out, took her hand, and pulled her toward the dance floor.

Nothing short of astonished, Quistis followed and stared up at his wide shoulders filling his beautiful tailored tux while tentatively gripping back his warm, strong hand. No one at Garden had ever acted so forward toward her.

Well, no one her age anyway.

The Trepies were mostly talk. She’d heard from Xu and other instructors what they said about her in the hallways and in the cafeteria, and she’d read some of the adoring and dirty comments they made about her on the Garden message boards. But none of the Trepies had worked up the courage to actually talk to her. Even to those who were part of her personal fan club, she was unapproachable.

Strange how a different look, a different stance, could change the way people reacted to her.

The blonde SeeD took her to the middle of the dance floor which vibrated under their feet along with the beat of the music. Xu had spared no expense; a live band was playing, the singer, drummer, keyboardist, and guitar player only a few feet away on a hastily constructed stage. Her dance partner wrapped one strong arm around her middle and tugged her close until she was pressed tight up against him then began to move with the beat. Quistis gasped, glad that her mask and the dim lights on the dance floor hid her blush.

She was close enough to smell the light, fresh cologne clinging to his skin, and although she couldn’t hear anything over the music, she could feel his chest contracting and expanding as he breathed. It was startlingly intimate and made her feel that much less like herself.

Quistis Trepe would never be seen dancing like this at a Garden event with a complete stranger.

But here everyone was a stranger. And she wasn’t Quistis Trepe.

Grinning, she relaxed against him and began to dance, enjoying the way that their bodies pushed and gave, hard and soft. Her face flushed with excitement.

There was something animalistic about him. Maybe it was the mask. But he sucked her breath away with the intensity of his gaze, the heat of his skin. His fingers splayed out possessively against the bare skin of her back and he used the grip he had on her to lock them together even when the music became heavy and the crowd of dancers thick. She wasn’t sure how long they’d been dancing like that when someone bumped into her.

“Excuse me.” Another man leaned over her shoulder, put one hand on her arm, and looked up at her partner. “Can I cut in?”

The blonde SeeD flashed her a grin and then released her into the arms of the other man who was surrounded by a haze of liquor. He had a mask on too, but she recognized him anyway due to his distinctive, gravely voice. He was one of the hand-to-hand combat instructors, a burly, stout man in his upper twenties, the sort of person who perpetually wore a whistle and athletic shorts no matter the situation or time of year. Tonight he was dressed in a suit, although his shirt was coming untucked and he’d pulled his tie loose.

“Great party, huh?” he said as they began dancing. “I don’t think I’ve seen you at a SeeD ball before. Are you new?”

“I…uh…I’ve just never come to one before,” she admitted.

Unlike the anonymity with the blond, this was familiar and uncomfortable. She cast her gaze over her shoulder to look for him as the crowd closed in. He’d simply turned around and found a new partner, though he wasn’t dancing quite so close to her, Quistis noticed with satisfaction.

Her dance with the combat instructor didn’t last long before another man cut in who was equally drunk. Quistis knew him, too. He’d been on her team the year she took the field exam and they went on several missions together before she was promoted. Positive that he didn’t recognize her, she began to relax herself again. The pounding music, flashing lights, and free flowing alcohol was creating a mob scene of bodies jostling against each other, everyone constantly finding someone new to dance with. Quistis even caught a glimpse of Xu in her red and black dress getting hot and heavy with someone near the wall.

The spell was hypnotic. No one was obeying the rules.

Hell…there _were_ no rules.

In a sea of masked faced, no one seemed able to maintain a sense of propriety.

“Hyne, you’re hot,” someone grumbled in her ear. He said it shamelessly and bluntly.

“Yeah…” she agreed and fanned herself with one hand. Under the long dress, mask, and wig she was starting to get overheated. “I’m taking a break.”

She had to work to disentangle herself from the crowd, eventually popping out next to the bar. There was more champagne sitting there, so she helped herself to another glass and noticed as she drank it the tall, blond SeeD standing near one of the room’s giant pillars talking to a girl. She had her mask off, perched on top of her head, but he hadn’t removed his.

Still needing to cool off, Quistis sought refuge on the balcony where a spattering of other people were standing up against the railing, enjoying the crisp fall air.

Despite being out of breath and sweaty, Quistis felt good. Better than she had in a long time. She was having fun. And the whole thing was so unlike her, so completely out of character.

For so many years, she’d thought disparaging thoughts about SeeDs and instructors who went to the holiday parties and made fools out of themselves. But maybe they knew something she didn’t. Maybe they enjoyed life more than her. How much did this once a year fun really hurt, anyway? No one ever seemed to suffer consequences for what happened at the SeeD ball.

_I deserve this,_ Quistis thought. _More than they do._

She tossed back the rest of her champagne and turned around, ready to hit the dance floor once again.

* * *

Seifer was buzzed. He could feel the relaxation and the little bit of lightheadedness. But even with a drink in his hand, he couldn’t stomach much more of the inane drivel leaking out of this woman’s lips. What the hell was she talking about now? Something about whether or not they should be allowed to pick their own color tie? He wondered why she even thought he’d care. He’d never worn a uniform a day in his life — not even on his field exams, and he didn’t plan to wear the SeeD one when the time came either.

He looked down at her, watching her speak but not hearing what she was saying.

She was cute…kind of. In an elfish sort of way.

Then he spotted the dark haired woman in the blue dress that he’d danced with earlier as she walked from the balcony back toward the dance floor. Her dark curls bounced as she walked, her lithe body moving with graceful flexibility. No cuteness there — she was _beautiful_. Bright blue eyes looked out from behind her mask. Her skin was pale and smooth. And she was soft and curvy where it counted, taut and strong everywhere else.

Without bothering to say anything to her, he handed the girl he’d been talking to his half-empty glass and walked off after the woman in the blue dress.

He circled around the dance floor to where the band’s manager was standing beside the stage.

“Hey!” Seifer waved. “I have a request.”

“Sure. What do you want?”

“Something slow.”

The other man winked. “Yeah. No problem. I’ll tell them…next song.”

Finding his mystery woman was easy. She was popular, all the man gravitating toward her. And she was dancing on and off with all of them, her hips moving in slow circles, her eyes closed and her dark hair falling over her pale shoulders. When the song ended, everyone paused, and Seifer swooped in.

Her eyes flashed open when he put his hands on her waist and turned her around to face him. A flash of relief shook him when she smiled and said, “Well, hi.”

“Hey.” He wrapped both arms around her right as the next song started on a lazy guitar solo. As the slow song started, the dance floor began to empty, leaving them suddenly alone together. He grinned down at her triumphantly and began to sway.

“Did you plan that?” she asked.

“Yes.”

She laughed. “Good.”

Looking down at her, Seifer couldn’t escape the sensation that she seemed familiar, but he couldn’t quite put his finger on who she reminded him of either. He didn’t know any SeeDs with long black hair and clear blue eyes. And he certainly wouldn’t forget someone like her. The tingling familiarity made her all the more exciting, as if there was something forbidden about her.

“Have you been to one of these before?” he asked. Maybe she was a transfer.

“Nope. First time. You?”

“Same.”

She tucked her body a little closer, nearly stepping on his toes. “I’m really glad I came though.”

Racked with temptation, Seifer looked down at her slightly parted lips, her flushed skin. He dipped his head down a little and paused, waiting to see if she would become uncomfortable or pull away. With their masks nearly touching, she looked him straight in the eye and smiled.

_Fuck_ — if that wasn’t an invitation, Seifer didn’t know what was.

He let out a growl when he kissed her. She tasted vaguely like sparkling champagne, so he closed his eyes and drank her in, relishing the moment and the smooth, sweet sensation of her mouth under his.

When they finally parted, she was the one to push away. Seifer drew in a deep breath as her tongue darted out of her mouth to run slowly across her bottom lip.

“Wow,” she breathed. “I…um…”

Her gaze dropped to his mouth, and she fell into him for another kiss.

Seifer couldn’t believe his luck — this was quite possibly the best day of his entire life. Knowing now that she was a perfectly willing participant, that she was feeling something just as intense as he was, he held her as tight as he could with his right arm while his left hand came up to fist in her hair. She groaned when he gently sucked her lower lip into his mouth.

The song was their cadence, the darkness their shroud. She seemed unaware of the people all around them. Seifer could have cared less either way. This was his night, and for the moment this woman was his, too. He didn’t give a damn who saw.

_Hyne_, he thought as he began to melt into her. _Where have you been?_

Boldly, he probed at her mouth with his tongue and she responded by eagerly opening and deepening their kiss on her own. It was headier than all the mulled cider and champagne Seifer had consumed all night long. It made his head spin and any reservations he was still holding onto fly out the window.

He _had_ to have this woman.

The blood rushing through his ears blocked out the music, and as her tongue pushed against his, he groaned from deep in his chest without any kind of self-control.

Seifer was stunned and disoriented when their song ended and a fast one started. The sudden influx of people to the dance floor reminded him of where he was, but he didn’t let go of the dark haired woman. She would not be moving on to another dance partner tonight.

Not if he could help it.

Apparently, she was thinking along the same lines, because she took his hand and pulled him toward the balcony which had just emptied of people making their way back to the dance floor. The cool night air made him suck in his breath, as did the woman when she turned toward him and backed him up against the wall.

Once again captured by her lips, Seifer didn’t make the slightest effort to escape.

Hands roamed more freely in the relative privacy of the balcony. She ran her palms up his chest, across his shoulders, down his sides. They kissed each other with wild heat and fervor. Seifer had never kissed someone like this in his entire life; he’d never wanted to. For him, kissing had always been a means to an end, something he had to do once or twice to get a girl into bed. But this woman was different. What she was doing was in and of itself painfully arousing.

“I can’t believe I’m going to say this,” she said as she pulled away, clearly embarrassed. “But…would you like to go somewhere more private?”

Seifer just about melted into a puddle right then and there. But he knew he couldn’t take her to his room. He was still a cadet, so he shared his room with another student. She’d know right away that he wasn’t what he claimed to be.

“Your place?” he suggested instead.

She thought it over for a second, then turned her face away and nodded. “Yeah. Okay. Let’s go.”

They left the party together hand in hand.

* * *

Quistis couldn’t believe what she was doing. Here she was, walking through Garden toward her room with a man she’d only met a few hours ago. She didn’t know his name, didn’t know anything about him other than the way he smelled, tasted, and touched. Still, that was somehow enough to make her throw caution to the wind and do something that she knew was reckless and wrong.

No one had to know, she reminded herself. It would just be tonight. She had never seen this man around Garden before, and she probably wouldn’t see him again after tonight.

Although, with the way he kissed, she didn’t think she’d mind running into him in a dark corner of the training center a few times a week.

She didn’t bother to turn on the light when she opened the door to her dorm room. They wouldn’t need the light.

Once the door closed behind them, he reached for her and they kissed again in the dark.

Passion raged though her. She’d never dreamt that her night of abandon at the SeeD ball would end like this. Perhaps it was the champagne contributing to the dizzy, weak sensation flooding her.

Soft moonlight spilling in through the window covered the foot of the bed in a wash of silver. He maneuvered her toward it and she took in deep breaths of his cologne, vowing to burn the scent into her memory. It would always remind her of feeling alive and free.

“Stupid masks,” he grunted as they clanked together, then reached to untie the ribbon at the back of her head.

“Wait!” She grabbed his hands. “I’d like to leave them on.”

“Why?”

Hesitant to admit her secret, she shrugged, and he took it as bashfulness.

“All right.” He traced the contours of her mask with his finger. “It _is_ kind of kinky.”

He kissed both of her cheeks, then cupped her face in his hands before kissing her on the lips again. She sighed and his lips left hers to travel across her jaw and down her neck until they found a sensitive spot which he licked, nibbled, and sucked. Tilting her head back, she let him work at her throat while her own hands traveled up and down his back, enjoying his size and strength.

_He must be a formidable SeeD_, she thought.

“I can’t believe I’ve never met you before,” she said. “Are you usually gone on missions?” As much as she was enjoying being anonymous, she wanted to know more about him.

He shrugged, murmured something she couldn’t understand, and let go of her so that he could shrug out of his jacket. It landed behind him with a muted thud. She began to unbutton his shirt. It was stiff and difficult to manage, but every button revealed another inch of skin, another tantalizing whiff of his cologne. While she worked down the front of his shirt, he hastily untucked it until finally she had it lying open, revealing the moonlit expanse of his collarbone, flat stomach, and navel. With a shudder, she reached out and ran her palms down his shoulders and across his nipples so that he sucked in a breath.

He pulled his arms free and his shirt joined his jacket on the floor, then he was kissing her again, more and more like he couldn’t get enough. She groaned when she felt his fingers hook under the straps of her dress. Slowly, drawing the moment out, he began to push them down until the whole garment was held up only by her breasts heaving against it with every breath.

“You’re beautiful,” he whispered, his lips brushing her ear.

Aching anticipation made them both hold their breath as he pushed the dress further down until it pooled at her hips.

He swore softly and pulled her tight against his bare chest, holding her so that every bit of skin they could manage was touching and they could feel each other trembling. Quistis still wasn’t sure why she was doing this. But every time she reminded herself how sudden this was, how unexpected, it added fuel to her desire. One of his hands moved down her back, then hooked on her dress again and continued to pull it over the rise of her bottom until it fell with a _whoosh_ to her ankles, leaving her in only her heels and panties. With his arms wrapped tightly around her, he lifted her out of it, then deposited her on the bed.

Confident in her body, Quistis laid back on the bed, her feet still on the floor, and stretched out in the moonlight while he struggled out of his shoes and socks. She smiled at him as he dropped to his knees and ran his hands down her legs. He brushed by her calves, then circled her ankles, bending over to press a kiss to each knee, and began licking up the inside of her thigh as he took her shoes off. She’d been wearing the heels far too long already and she sighed with relief when they clattered to the floor.

She wrapped one leg around him, pushing against his lower back with her heel, and sat up so that she could kiss him. With his mask still on and the dark room, she couldn’t make out his expression, but the sound he made and the way he fisted both hands in her quilt let her know that his focus was intensely on her and this moment. There weren’t any fleeting thoughts about who she was, no doubts. She strayed down the side of her neck and sank her teeth into the tender flesh she found there. He hissed. Then his hand was under her, scooping her up and moving her back further onto the bed, and he was climbing on top. The bed sank under his weight, and her head sank deeper into the pillows as he kissed her again, more forcefully this time.

Boldly, she took his hand and moved it up from where it was resting on her hip, across her belly, and up to her breast. His lips tore away from hers and he buried his face in the crook of her neck as he groaned and squeezed and brushed his thumb across her nipple.

Quistis usually paid very little attention to her breasts, but the way they made him go weak and mindless gave her a rush of pleasure, too. It was liberating and made her feel powerful to dissolve a big, virile man like this with something so small. He pressed one quick kiss to her lips before scooting down, trailing his tongue all the way to her breasts where he continued to kiss and lick and nibble, one arm locked over her to keep her held in place.

As good as this was, it was going too slow. Quistis knotted her fingers in his hair and rolled so that she could throw one leg over him.

He chuckled. “Okay.”

Then she was on top, leaning over him, and he was taking her panties off. Quistis kicked out of them, not caring where they landed, and sat back so that she could unbutton his pants.

It was strange to be naked and still wearing the mask and wig. Only now was it starting to feel dishonest, too.

This was beginning to go beyond a night of celebration, of letting go of her responsibilities.

What if it could be something more with this man?

What if it could be love?

She had his pants undone, and he lifted himself up off the bed so that she could pull them down to his knees. He kicked them off on his own from there. Underneath he wore black boxers, and these came off as well. Now they were both stripped bare, no secrets or barriers between them except for the masks hiding their identities.

Quistis longed to see his face. As she straddled him, she wanted to see the way his eyebrows knit together, the passion and the pleasure in his expression. She wanted this to be something more than two faceless people on a single Friday night. She was about to give in, about to reach around and untie her mask, when he pulled her down, then rolled so she was lying on her back.

When he began to crawl down her body, reaching with one hand to spread her knees apart, she stopped him.

“I want to—”

“No. Not this time,” she interrupted and pulled him back up until his eyes were level with hers.

“This time?” he repeated. “Next time, then?”

God, she hoped so.

He seemed pleased with the idea that this could continue into the future, and his fingers dipped quickly between her legs, working her to a whimpering, shuddering fever pitch while he muttered encouragement in her ear. She could do nothing but lie there, her eyes shut and one arm wrapped tightly around him, as he drove her further and further — teasing, rubbing, pushing…one finger then two. And…_oh God_, when she was almost there he stopped as if he knew and let her come down for a few minutes before climbing on top again.

She wrapped her legs around him and gasped when he pressed against her. Eager, barely able to hold back anymore, he pushed hard, foregoing gentleness for pure passion. But Quistis was ready, and she held him tight with her heels digging into him as he slipped in until finally he was buried to the hilt. They stayed still for a moment, adjusting to one another, silently taking in their union.

And then he started to move.

Quistis knew the dormitory walls were paper-thin, but she couldn’t stifle the sounds working up out of her throat. Certainly, she’d never felt _this_ before. He was strong and fast, a disciplined and lethal soldier even in this. And he was unhinged, having lost all semblance of control. Quistis had just enough sense left to marvel that this is what she’d been denying herself all those nights alone in her room, studying to be the best. This deep, ragged edge of life was almost completely unknown to her. She didn’t quite know what would happen once it was through, felt like she might shatter.

He quivered and groaned in her ear, and she suddenly felt her whole body clench with a blinding spasm.

_Rapture_.

Through the haze and her own cries, she was aware that she had sent him over the edge as well, and it propelled her further upward, made her twitch and gasp until he collapsed on top of her and drank in the last of her cries with a long, languid kiss.

“_Hyne_,” she breathed once she’d finally come down. “I think I love you.”

After a silent moment, he lifted himself off her, then propped himself up on his elbow beside her. They were both out of breath, their senses heightened, their hearts open and eager to connect. He looked down at her, along the length of her body, and paused.

“You’re a natural blonde?” he asked and chuckled as he glanced back up at her face.

Quistis didn’t say anything as he dug his fingers into her hair, finding the edge of the wig. With fumbling fingers that spoke of his exhaustion and desperation, he untied the ribbons holding her mask on, then reached behind his own head and untied those as well. His mask fell off and landed with a thump on the bed, but she couldn’t see him as he pulled her own free, taking the wig with it.

She tossed it down beside her, and for the first time they looked at one another without all the layers of secrecy. They sat up together, into the shaft of moonlight.

The expression on his face as the light hit him changed in an instant from lazy and satiated to shocked.

“_Instructor Trepe?!”_

Without the mask and with the sound of his voice when he called her by that name, she recognized him instantly.

“_Seifer Almasy?!_ You’re not a SeeD! How did you get into the ball?”

“I snuck in.”

“You _snuck_ in? Seifer! Why in the—” She covered her mouth. “Oh no.”

He was a student.

_Her_ student.

She had him in her homeroom for Hyne’s sake, and here she was sitting naked beside him, still sticky and out of breath, her whole body trembling from a mind-blowing orgasm, able to see a growing bruise on his neck near his shoulder where she’d _bit_ him…

How the hell had this happened?

He stared at her, probably thinking the same thing.

“This can’t _ever_ happen again,” she said. Hyne, it made her sad to say that. But this was unacceptable. Another SeeD, another instructor…maybe. But one of her students? It couldn’t be done.

He scowled the way she recognized from class. “Why not?”

“I’ll be fired!”

“So, we’ll keep it secret.” Stubbornly, he tried to pull her close and kiss her.

She didn’t understand how he could sit there and not care she was his teacher, how he could think that it didn’t change anything. She turned her face away.

“You can’t be serious,” he said.

“I am.”

He looked hurt, then angry…betrayed.

Quistis wished she could put the wig back on, become someone else who didn’t have to sacrifice for Garden and for SeeD, someone who could live the life of passion and abandon that he was trying to capture. But that wasn’t who she really was. She wasn’t sure that was someone she could ever be, no matter how much she wanted to.

He got up and started pulling his clothes back on in silence. Quistis didn’t move. She half hoped he’d come back to the bed and tell her they’d run away together, or insist that it just didn’t matter and refuse to take her “no” for an answer. But he didn’t. He buttoned up his shirt, slipped back into his shoes.

_Don’t listen to me_, she begged silently. _Don’t go._

But he did. And she was alone, lying naked on top of her bed with their two masks beside her.

* * *

Quistis didn’t see him again until the next semester started a week later. He had her for homeroom again. She did her best not to look right at him, always casting her glance to the student beside him instead, at Squall Leonhart who usually had his head down and never looked back. After class, she saw him beating Squall up and split up the fight, but he said nothing to her, just stalked away.

That afternoon, Xu spotted Quistis in the cafeteria and sat down across from her.

“How’s it going?” she asked.

“Okay.”

“Back to the grind, huh?” Xu settled in with her lunch and smiled cheerfully from across the table. “I hope you at least had fun at the SeeD ball. You went. Didn’t you?”

“Yeah.”

“And…?”

“And I wish I could go back and do it all over again.” Quistis sighed and propped her chin in her hand. She hadn’t stopped thinking about that night or wishing that things were different. Now she wasn’t sure that she could build something with Seifer even if circumstances changed. If she hadn’t sent him away…they could have at least spent the short week between semesters together. They could have gone to Timber or Deling City where no one knew who they were. Or he could pass his SeeD exam this year and it wouldn’t be a problem anymore. It was all wishful thinking now though. Now she wasn’t sure that he even cared anymore.

Sensing her friend’s sadness, Xu changed the subject. “Hey. Have you seen the message boards lately?”

“No. Why?”

“The Disciplinary Committee is cracking down hard on the Trepies. It’s cruel, you know, but sort of amusing. They don’t seem to know what hit them.”

Xu grinned, and Quistis looked around to see that, indeed, all of the Trepies in the cafeteria were cowering, giving both her and the table a dozen feet away where Seifer sat with his back to her a wide berth. To her, the message was clear. They were still playing roles, still wearing their masks. And in the moment when he got up to leave, he glanced at her quickly with the same cocksure intensity he had at the dance. A look that said to her, and would have loudly proclaimed to anyone else who knew, “_You’re mine._”


End file.
